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Is "Redskin" offensive?

summer1

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My family have been Redskins fans for forever and we also have some Native American heritage. Granted, I get that's like saying you have some English in you...

Anyway, there's been much controversy over the Redskin team and while I don't deny that it IS kind of...racist...what are your opinions on the NFL team?
 
I thought this issue had died off.

The Washington Post made every effort to shame the team to change the name, until they got the results of their poll that showed 9 out of 10 Native Americans did not think the name was offensive, nor racist.

You can call it racist all you want, but you're in the minority.
 
what are your opinions on the NFL team?

They may turn a corner this year depending on how the draft goes. They do have some young talent. Just needs to see where it can take them.
 
My family have been Redskins fans for forever and we also have some Native American heritage. Granted, I get that's like saying you have some English in you...

Anyway, there's been much controversy over the Redskin team and while I don't deny that it IS kind of...racist...what are your opinions on the NFL team?

First of all - welcome. We are entering our 9th year as a website, so yes, this topic has been discussed ad nauseum, no doubt about that. The idea that 'Redskin' is racist is a manufactured 'truth'. Since the naming of the team after moving from Boston in the mid 30's, if you walked into any bar, restaurant, mall, or other public space and yelled 'I hate the Redskins!', there would not be a single person - not ONE anywhere who would believe you were talking about anything other than an NFL team.

Why? Because in the lexicon of American language and history, the term 'Redskin' was never broadly used as an epithet for Native Americans. When polls are done with the Native American community, it's clear that the vast majority don't view the name as an 'epithet', nor do they find it offensive. Of course there are those who do. But I think the most obvious point anyone could make is that no one labels a team they own with a moniker meant to degrade, mock, or belittle. They give their sports team a name that represents courage, bravery, ferocity, or honor.

We live in an age of revisionism and group think where if a single individual finds offense with something, it must be mobbed, swarmed, and undone. Dan Snyder is on record as saying 'We will never change the name'.

I believe him.
 
It is to my wife. She hears this word and thinks this is what diverts my attention for at least 6 months out of the year. Nothing to do with Native Americans, but she knows my passion for the team.
 
Please reference the following article for an example of what racism/racist behavior toward native Americans looks like:
https://deadspin.com/native-american-lacrosse-teams-reported-racial-abuse-t-1824292659

That site is full of people who whine about the name, yet it doesn't come up once when actual native Americans are speaking about the racism that they experience.

Redskin is not a term even used by racists, there is no documentation of it ever being used so, except for people trying to make it an issue. All the other epithets down in that article I have experienced personally, in multiple states. The youth and people affected from that article are from where I was born.

It honestly angers me to read it. I am further angered by the insistence of people (effectively speaking because of "white guilt") trying to show how good they are by going off about a football team's name. It detracts from the actual problems we face, from the reservation system to actual racist attitudes.

In other words: no, Redskin is not offensive. As Elephant said...I really thought we were past this :p
 
We'll see if @summer1 is a legitimate new member. Sometimes folks do an initial drive-by post just to post a link. Hoping it's the former not the latter.
 
Yes, extremely racist name. I'm shaken to the core even!
 
Mike Wise? He's currently out of work.
 
Cowboys... Now THAT'S offensive...
 
First of all - welcome. We are entering our 9th year as a website, so yes, this topic has been discussed ad nauseum, no doubt about that. The idea that 'Redskin' is racist is a manufactured 'truth'. Since the naming of the team after moving from Boston in the mid 30's, if you walked into any bar, restaurant, mall, or other public space and yelled 'I hate the Redskins!', there would not be a single person - not ONE anywhere who would believe you were talking about anything other than an NFL team.

Why? Because in the lexicon of American language and history, the term 'Redskin' was never broadly used as an epithet for Native Americans. When polls are done with the Native American community, it's clear that the vast majority don't view the name as an 'epithet', nor do they find it offensive. Of course there are those who do. But I think the most obvious point anyone could make is that no one labels a team they own with a moniker meant to degrade, mock, or belittle. They give their sports team a name that represents courage, bravery, ferocity, or honor.

We live in an age of revisionism and group think where if a single individual finds offense with something, it must be mobbed, swarmed, and undone. Dan Snyder is on record as saying 'We will never change the name'.

I believe him.

Dang. Well said my brother. Couldn't have replied better my own self.
 
We'll see if @summer1 is a legitimate new member. Sometimes folks do an initial drive-by post just to post a link. Hoping it's the former not the latter.

Have to admit I saw this yesterday and didn't respond in case it was some random Troller looking to stir up trouble. New member and first post and all.

Could be that it's a legit icebreaker. We'll see.


From my perspective as a Brit.

The name had never even been considered to be offensive. When I was a kid cementing my allegiance to the Burgundy and Gold I recognised our logo as an 'Indian' in the 'Cowboys and Indians' sense of the word form Westerns I'd watched as a kid, but never really put the pieces of the puzzle together till I was much older.

On a personal note I get so tired of this revisionist era we live in at the moment where everything has to be sanity checked and retconned for political correctness. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for us moving forwards as a more enlightened species, but at the same time we had traditions that I feel we should respect and not sweep under the rug simply because they don't meet modern standards of political correctness.

For Gods sake there was a movement recently that was tearing down the TV show 'Friends' as being politically incorrect in the modern world. So what? It's a product of it's time and should, in my opinion, be viewed through that lens.

I think Sports Fans in general happen to be more inclined that way than most to be honest because we're pre-conditioned through watching sports to make comparisons to the now and the then. My brother and I were discussing the Jordan/Lebron GOAT argument the other day but all through the conversation we constantly referred to the 'different era's, different rules, different styles of play. Same when we talk about old football players versus the latest breed. We happily compare era's while accepting the differences there in.

When I look at the Redskins I can see the team I support. I understand that some people in todays society might be offended by the name, but in my head I place it in the context of when that name was given. A very different time. And I don't try to judge it by today's standards.

I don't know if any of that makes sense.... LOL
 
I Sir am offended! *smacks face with back of glove!*

Duel accepted. So I get to chose the weapon, right? Pointy Spears @ 50 paces! :swordfight: (well, no smiley spears but...) :joker:
 
Duel accepted. So I get to chose the weapon, right? Pointy Spears @ 50 paces! :swordfight: (well, no smiley spears but...) :joker:

Darn it I was thinking more...

<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T8XeDvKqI4E" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I am a Brit you know! :D
 
What is ironic to me is that all of the focus is on the Redskins' name.

The context of how the Redskins operate is complimentary of Native Americans. The logo shows that.

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians whose names don't seem to draw as much criticism have mascots and merchandising items that are in my mind truly racist.

These teams have grotesque figures of 'indians' in caricature carrying oversized tomahawks and encouraging fans to chant the 'tomahawk chop', a white version I suppose of what they think is a 'traditional' war dance/chant.

THAT to me has to go and I think the Indians did in fact change the uniform of the mascot to reflect this public attitude.

But to me the issue with this particular writer, Mike Wise, is that he doesn't like Dan Snyder first and foremost.

It is that personal animosity between Snyder and the Sports Director and writers on the Post that brought this to such high invective in print over the last 3-5 years.

Wise has never really addressed the Braves, Indians, Chiefs or others that also use some Native American iconography but do so in a far less flattering way than the Redskins do.
 
Ya want something offensive..... yoga pants. Far too many ladies wear them, and the vast majority shouldn't !
 

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